Geylang Serai is a fascinating place. It has endured as an important node for Singapore’s Malay community despite numerous drastic physical overhauls and demolition phases. This short article outlines the numerous changes and developments that have made and un-made Geylang Serai since the early 19th century.
written by Imran bin Tajudeen, last edited 2 Jan 2014
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 |  This is the exact junction where Geylang Road changes its name to Changi Road! Geylang Serai Singapore |
Google aerial view of Geylang Serai showing three Geylang Serai landmarks that have been demolished: (1) the old 1963-66 Geylang Serai HDB flats and Market complex (demolished 2004) and (2) the Geylang Serai Malay Village theme park, also built by HDB (demolished Apr 2012). At far left is the distinctive outline of Tanjong Katong Complex, whose fate remains uncertain – it is on 10-year lease extension which expires 2021. Below that is (3) Lion City Hotel, which has been demolished last year (2013) and is being redeveloped.
The area known as Geylang Serai can be precisely pin-pointed, as it grew out of a historically significant intersection and crossroads (see next section heading below). Geylang Serai also served a dual function, both of which are important in its popular identity and memory.
First, Geylang Serai was famous and popular as a marketplace and retail hub oriented specifically to the needs of the Malay community – it also became famous beyond Singapore shores and was visited by tourists and shoppers from neighbouring Malay communities, chiefly from Brunei and Peninsular Malaysia.
Second, it also had a large adjoining suburb, for which it is justifiably famous and fondly remembered. Many of the houses in Geylang Serai were well-built and were constructed with building plans submitted to the colonial authorities of the time (19th century and early 20th century) – they were often beautiful examples of Malay houses.
From a starting point at the Geylang Serai junction, numerous streets and lanes began (see a 1972 map here) that stretch far northwards and eastwards to the suburbs of Jalan Eunos and Kaki Bukit. These roads have all been expunged since the late 1980s, but memories of these old connections remain.
(Note: “Geylang Serai” is not to be confused with the other area called “Geylang” which stretches from Lorong 1 Geylang to Lorong 41 and 42 Geylang).
The following sections give a brief outline of the historical origins and physical transformation of Geylang Serai, its various roles in Singapore urban history, and its dual aspect (commercial and residential). In each section you may click on the maps to read further details about their respective periods.
- Meanwhile, if you wish to read more on the historic origins and transformation of Geylang Serai, click here.
- On the future transformation of Geylang Serai based on URA plans, click here.
- To check out more about Geylang Serai’s Dual Character, click here.
Midway lies the Crossroads: Geylang Serai
“Geylang Serai” happens to also serve as the name for a short but significant road – this is the road that forms a junction where the major east-west artery of Geylang Road changes name to Changi Road. This road is unique because it is simply called “Geylang Serai”, without a qualifier such as Jalan or Lorong or Road, etc.
The two major east-west arterial roads, Geylang Road and Changi Road, were begun way back in 1842. Opposite Geylang Serai (the road) is Joo Chiat Road, begun in 1900.
Beginnings
There is much to be said about the early history of Geylang Serai before it even acquired its name – when it was still Geylang Kelapa, and when it was still the property of Hajjah Fatimah of Java Road, the famous Malay-Bugis businesswoman who endowed the Hajjah Fatimah Mosque in c,1842. This section of Geylang Serai history is so early that it is no longer within living memory, and its information must be gleaned from records and written sources, though even these are incomplete and contain many frustrating gaps.
This 1898 map below indicates that by the late 1890s, the numerous road junctions in Geylang Serai were already in existence, around which many retail and entertainment establishments subsequently grew.
Details about developments in Geylang Serai from 1828, 1849, 1868, and 1898 can be read by clicking on the map above!
Geylang Serai’s Heydays in the 1950s
By the 1950s, Geylang Serai had grown to become the site of an intense concentration of shops, hotels, cinemas, markets and the Great Eastern Trade Fair.
Many people consider this era as the heydays of Geylang Serai. At this time, shops lined the roads around the Geylang Serai junction (see images below), and there were two markets: Changi Market, and Joo Chiat Market, both located where Joo Chiat Complex stands today.
The bustle of Geylang Serai was in part also the result of its role as the transport hub serving the eastern half of the (colonial-era) urban planning district of Geylang; it also served another district indicated simply as ‘Malay Settlement’ (that is, the next-door neighbourhoods of Jalan Eunos and Kaki Bukit!).
If you wish to read about events from the 192os, 193os, and the 195os in greater detail, click on the map above!
The first big makeover, 1960s to 1970s
In the 1960s, Geylang Serai’s post-war makeover started with a $3.8 million redevelopment scheme; this was the Housing and Development Board (HDB)’s first project in the eastern side of Singapore. The redevelopment scheme covered an area of 400,000 sqft.
This scheme produced the much loved Geylang Serai Market and Concourse and its surrounding flats (Blocks 1, 2, 3 and the low shop blocks 4 and 5). These buildings were completed 1963-66.
Then in 2003, this historic HDB market complex was identified for En-Bloc redevelopment (the SERS program), and subsequently demolished in its entirety the following year in 2004 before being rebuilt in its current form and named “Sri Geylang Serai”. The market occupied temporary premises along Sims Avenue near Paya Lebar MRT station for some years until 2010, when a new market and shop complex was completed on the site of the old HDB complex.
Here is a wonderful video of the last year of the annual Hari Raya bazaar at the old Geylang Serai HDB market complex in 2004, uploaded onto FB by a former resident of the area, Pak Yusof bin Abdul Rahman (link here, requires login to Facebook)
Update: Photos of the Geylang Serai Market Complex from 2004 coming up soon!
Meanwhile, the large residential component of Geylang Serai to the north of the marketplace remained in existence a little longer. In the 1970s, the State announced further plans to clear the suburban settlement of Geylang Serai. Following on quickly from this announcement, in 1975 came the last straw on the camel’s back — the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) was built, cutting the area in half and severing the internal street and road network of Geylang Serai.
On the land thus acquired, the authorities built very low-rise light industries workshop blocks in the 1980s. This sprawling area of one-storey workshop blocks, where once a large residential area was found, can still be seen today.
Kallang Road (from left) diverges into 2 parallel, complementary one-way roads: Sims Avenue (top) and Geylang Road (bottom). Geylang Road changes name to Changi Road at its intersection with Geylang Serai (road) and Joo Chiat Road (the red dot on the right).
Source: Singapore Street Directory 1988,
with modifications by Imran
To read more about events from 1960s to 2000s (and to view more maps) click on the map above…
What future now?
Under the previous masterplan announced by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on May 23 2008, Paya Lebar (including Geylang Serai) will become one of Singapore’s new commercial hubs or a “Regional Centre”.
Geylang Serai is undoubtedly already an existing Malay shopping locus. What remains to be seen is how these plans, which make much about retaining the identity of the area, would affect the Malay orientation of the retail businesses (both Malay and non-Malay owned) that are already concentrated here for some decades now.
For instance, the fate of Tg Katong Complex lies in the balance: initially slated for demolition in 2008, it has thankfully been given a 10-year extension lease in 2011, which means it will at least remain till 2021.
Predominant Land Use showing Geylang Serai [enclosed in orange box] as part of the commercial hub away from the city center.
Source: Map 5, Masterplan 1980. Singapore.
Click on this map above to see maps, events and proposals from URA Masterplan and Development Guide Plan
Note: the current plan is for an “upgraded Community Centre” called “Wisma Geylang Serai” to be built at one corner of the former Geylang Serai Malay Village theme park (demolished in 2013).
Geylang Serai’s historic dual character and role
The composite images below illustrate the two main aspects of Geylang Serai, and the links here will bring you to further discussions on Geylang Serai as a pekan or marketplance and retail commercial hub, and as a large residential district, a huge suburb in eastern Singapore.
Images from picas.
Geylang Serai in 1954 and 1955.
Graphic by Imran bin Tajudeen.
Thanks for checking out this post – do leave a note if you have any comments and additions to a very complicated story on a truly fascinating place!
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